Whittier High softball player Ashlynn Marracino, 16, put a message addressed to her late father on a balloon that was recovered in Auburn, a suburb of Sacramento. It could lead to her attending her dream college, Humboldt State.

WHITTIER >> Whittier High School student Ashlynn Marracino’s dream of attending Humboldt State may come true.

“I read your story on Ashlynn, and it really touched me,” said Daniel J. Flockhart, Liberal Studies Elementary Education academic adviser at Humboldt, in a email to The Whittier Daily News. “I’d like to start a campaign to raise funds for her to attend Humboldt State. I will kick it off with a donation myself.”

Flockhart asked the Daily News to help him get in touch with Ashlynn and her mother, Robyn Godfrey, of Whittier.

“We’re (Humboldt) kind of in the business of making dreams come true,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

The story of Ashlynn sending a “letter to heaven” to her father who died in 2010 was picked up by news outlets throughout the U.S. and overseas after the letter was found in Northern California. She wrote the letter on a star-shaped balloon she sent aloft on Jan. 6, her dad’s birthday.

The balloon was found in the parking lot of the Local Heroes restaurant, 436 miles away in Auburn, northeast of Sacramento.

“Show me a sign please,” said the letter. “Anything to let me know you’re there. I miss you so much and I want you back.”

Restaurant owner Lisa Swisley contacted Ashlynn through Facebook and set up a Pay It Forward page, which has gotten responses from as far away as Germany and India, Swisley said Tuesday in a telephone interview. Ashlynn’s Facebook page also said that the 16-year-old’s dream is to attend Humboldt and play softball there. She plays third base and catcher for Whittier High.

Flockhart said in a telephone interview that he wants to add his efforts to Swisley’s, and credited her with starting efforts on Ashlynn’s behalf.

“I’d like to try and make her dream come true,” said Flockhart, who has published eight books for teachers that combine fantasy sports with mathematics.

“This is exactly the kind of student we want,” he said. “In this day and age, it’s inspiring to see.”

He said he has contacted the admissions department about Ashlynn.

“That’s amazing,” Ashlynn said when told of Flockhart’s plans. “My mother thinks this is crazy. She’s excited for me, too.”

Ashlynn’s mom said her daughter wouldn’t tell her what the letter said initially. “‘Mom, it’s personal,’” she said.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” said Godfrey. “This is so overwhelming I can’t even fathom it.

“All of this has happened because of Lisa,” said Godfrey. “She had the goodness to open her heart. I know there’s good people out there. There’s still good people in this world.”